Foul weather outer cape



July 10, 1962 v. SAWYER 3,042,931

FOUL WEATHER OUTER CAPE Filed Dec. 9, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 10,1962 v. L. SAWYER FOUL WEATHER OUTER CAPE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 9,1958 INVENTOR. 222102466156 aye) BY 3,042331 FOUL WEATIER OUTER CAPEValerie Lucienne Sawyer, 99-15 66th Ave., Forest Hills 74, N.Y. FiledDec. 9, 1958, Ser. No. 779,132 4 Claims. (Ci. 2-88) This inventionrelates to a garment and in particular to a cape suitable for use as arain cape by ladies, and is characterized by its having a simple unitaryform which adapts itself neatly to economical manufacture, particularlyfrom such materials as plastic sheets.

Women generally have difiiculty maintaining the desired personalappearance in rainy weather, simply because contact of any part of theoutfit with the weather is likely to spoil the effect sought. Thisapplies from the head to the shoes. Furthermore, women are extremelyreluctant in foul weather to adopt the use of serviceable rain clothingof more or less conventional material. It is, accordingly, a fundamentalobject of this invention to provide a garment suitable for use by women,but use by men would also be appropriate, which is characterized by thefact that it is attractive, neat, unitary in form, and made of a lightgauge plastic sheet material which will shed rain and yet is lightenough to permit folding the garment into a quite small package suitablefor storing in a compartment of a purse.

It is another object of the invention to provide the garment in aplaited form arranged to be easily folded into a complete package.

Other objects and features of the invention will in part be obvious andin part appear hereinafter.

The invention, accordingly, is embodied in a garment preferably formedfrom sheet plastic material of a thermo plastic nature, of thin gauge,which garment when projected and laid out as a flat sheet of materialmay be defined by a circle of the plastic material, or a sheet coveringa substantial sector of a circle as it is not necessary to encompass theentire 360. The garment is further characterized by its having asequence of. pleats radially arranged in orderly fashion, the pleatsbeing strung together by means of at least a cord which permitsgathering the pleats and re-gathering them readily in a reproduciblepattern. The garment is further characterized by its having at thecentral point of the basic sector a structure suitable for serving as ahood, the remainder of the garment flaring out to a substantiallycomplete circle, thereby forming a loose fitting cape over the form awoman, who might be using it.

The invention, therefore, is embodied in the garment having thefeatures, structures, combination of elements and arrangement of partsas indicated, and more fully to be described hereinafter, as well as themethod of fabricating the garment, which comprises, the steps of layingit out, cutting and assembling the material.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE 1 illustrates the completedgarment as it would appear on a model;

FIGURE 2 illustrates the completed garment, as it appears when it isshaken partly open;

FIGURE 2a is a sketch of the garment with its pleats completely folded,ready for storage;

FIGURE 3 represents a planar projection of the garment to illustrate thetypical form developed which, for purposes of this embodiment, is shownto be a substantial sector of a circle;

FIGURE 4 is a section along the are 44 in FIGURE 2 to show thearrangement of tie cord in the garment as related to the pleats;

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic layout of a plan in which a large sheet ofthe plastic is cut into elementary form for assembly into the garment.

Efi-iZSBl Fatented July It 1962 FIGURE 5a is a modified showing of thelayout of FIGURE 5.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, 10 represents the garment as it would be wornby a user wherein 11 and 12, respectively, represent front openingedgesalong the radii defining the sector making the garment. A draw-string,in this instance a double draw-string consisting of cords or tapes 13-and 14, is shown drawn lightly around the neck of the wearer to form abow 15. At the center of the sector, or top of the garment in the sectordefined by edges 11 and 12, there is placed an additional sector 16 ofmaterial having a shape to fit the general planar configuration of theentire garment, the whole being brought together, for example, in anornamental peak 17.

In FIGURE 2 the same parts are shown carrying the same numbers and itwill be apparent that the garment has a single unitary form and may beconsidered to be formed of a large number of radial pleats extendingfrom the center of the sheet of plastic material out to thecircumference of the total sheet, with no provision made for shaping thegarment to any particular contour. If desired, a second draw-string orset of draw-strings may be placed in the garment at approximately waistheight, as indicated by dotted lines 18 and 19 in FIGURE 2, therebyeffectively to have a flare effect extending from the waist of thewearer.

Details of the construction .of the garment are shown in FIGURES 3 and4.

In FIGURE 3 the planar projection shows the fabric or garment 10 laidout flat on a surface with the sector defined by edges 11 and 12 whichare shown extending to the center 1% circle of the material. Pleats' aredefined by radii 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, etc., spaced almost arbitrarily atregular intervals to define a uniform sequence. Creases are oppositelyoriented at successive segments to define a zigzag effect so that, forexample, in the figures, 30 may represent an outside crease and. 31 aninside crease with the alternation thus repeated around the totalsegment. The effect, therefore, is that of an accordion or fanpermitting folding of the garment essentially as shown in FIGURES 2 and2a. For convenience in accomplishing this result, the center of theplanar sheet of material may be cut out along an arcuate radius asindicated at 10', and in the assembly the folds of the pleats arebrought together along the considerably smaller circumference 10.,thereby to make the over.- all assembly easier. An ornamental piece, forexample, a tassel, as indicated at 17, in FIGURE 1, may be fastened atthis point. Hood section 16 is fastened within the angle formed by edges11 and 12.

In general use, edges 11 and 12 define an angle corresponding to thatshown in FIGURE 3, or if11 and 12 actually coincide by virtue of thefact that the garment is formed of a complete circle of material, theare defined by the edge of segment 16 should be approximately 6 inchesin length, thus to correspond to the length of arc intercepted along thewearers forehead to permit clear vision, while obtaining the'advantagesof full protection of the hair and head.

To complete the fastening of the device and also to assist in wearingit,- the draw-strings or "draw-cords 13 and 14 are provided. Aseries ofproperly spaced-openings is placed around the arcuate piece lil at theappropriate radius. In threading the cords 13 and. 14 through theopenings thus provided, they are threaded in accordance with theorientation of the particular fold so that the draw-string serves notonly to hold the garment ap proximately shaped around a Wearers head andshoulders, but also serves as a draw guide in aligning the folds of thepleats when the garment is to be worn.

In FIGURE 4 the section taken along the are 4-4 shape for assembly intothe garment.

the layout shown in FIGURE 5. pieces 50a, 51a, 52a etc., are assembledwith the smaller 3 illustrates the principle of threading the cordthrough the pleats to permit proper folding and the orientation of thepleats. Therein, it will be seen that where the openings once havingbeen made actual assembly of the device is accomplished by threading thedraw-strings through the material as shown. a

In FIGURE 5 a planar development is made showing how pieces may be cutfrom ordinary sheet plastic material economically to provide segments ofappropriate In general a full circle is not needed; however, it may beused. I have found that the arrangement which defines the angle betweenedges 11 and 12 of FIGURE 4at about 60-90, is preferable for thepurpose. In this fashion sectors large enough to form a cape to be wornby the wearer can be formed. Taking advantage of this fact, FIGURE 5shows how a planar development of triangles Si}, Si, 52., 53, etc., maybe laid out on a plastic sheet of appropriate width. When the trianglesare out along the lines 60, 61, 62, 63, etc., indicated, trimmed alongarcs 7t}, 71, 72, 73, etc., and 31B, 81, 82, 83, etc. pieces areobtained suitable for assembly into capes by pleating them along radiallines laid out as indicated in FIGURES 1 and 2.

It is to be understood, that the'single triangle is virtually thespecial case in which the garment may be formed. Smaller triangles usinga plurality of sections to approximate a sector large enough to form thecape may be used. By using smaller triangles it becomes possible to cutout straight triangles, to fuse the edges together, and thereby to formthe cape from the plurality of triangular segments giving it theultimate outline and projection of a large many-sided polygon. Ofcourse, the ultimate figure in any case is the sector of a circle, asshown in FIG- URE 1. The garment actually can be formed from any numberof triangular pieces, it being best for economy of material andsimplicity of assembly to balance the number of pieces with efiiciencyof operation. The layout of a sequence of smaller triangular sections isshown in FIGURE 5a, which it will be apparent is a version of In formingthe garment ends together and sealed together.

Suitable materials for use in the fabrication of the device may be anyof the conventional sheet plastics which have become popular forformation into sheetsor wrapping materials. Thus polyvinyl chloride,copolymers of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate and other vinyl estersare all perfectly suitable. Similarly, polyethylene sheets,polypropylene sheets, and any of the general lines, of materialsavailable in plastic sheet form having a degree of strength suitable forthe kind of light use intended and thermoplastic so that the edges canbe fused together to form seams, may be used in the fabrication of thegarment.

In general, I have found that the garment is preferably for-med with2-3triangular sections placed edge to edge,

shown in FIGURE 2a. Thereupon, the package is punched,'preferably' attwo radially spaced points'as indicated in FIGURE 1, cord or tape 1314is passed through the holes and assembly thereby completed. The cord1314 serves to hold the pleats in alignment and, when 4 the garment isworn, to gather the garment about the neck of the wearer. In addition,the cord is particularly advantageous in that when the garment isremoved it holds the pleats in appropriate relationship to be foldedinto the compact unit shown in FIGURE 2a.

When a cord is also used at the waist level, it too aids in aligning thepleats when the garment is to be folded into the small package.

The top of the garment, formed by gathering the small ends of thepleats, is formed preferably. by heat sealing, i.e., application of heatto the gathered folds, using conventional heat sealing technique forplastic film will form the necessary union- A mechanical fastener, suchas a staple will also serve the purpose.

In FIGURES 1 and 2 the cap portion 16 of the garment has been referredto as a separate piece. As indioated in FIGURE 3, however, the cuttingof the garment by allowing for projections .10" and 10" will includeenough material to form the cap as shown. 7,

Though the invention has been described with reference to only a ratherspecific form, it is to be understood that variants thereof may bedevised without departingfrom its spirit or scope.

What is claimed is: a t a l. A garment formed from sheet waterproofmaterial suitable for use an a rain covering for wear by a personcomprising, a section of material generally corresponding in outline toa substantial sector of a circle as a basic sector, the radii definingsaid basic sector beingfrontal edges, pleats in the saidmaterialextending radially from the center of said circle to the circumferencethereof, said pleats being gathered and fastened at a point removedradially from the center of said circle to form a peak for 'saidgarment, said frontal edges of said peak forming an angle and carryingtherein a sector of material having suflicient length to cover thewearers forehead, means in the said material at a spaced distance fromthe center thereof to define a line for gathering said pleats and a tiethreaded through said means to permit gathering the said material aboutthe neck of the wearer.

2. A garment as defined in claim 1 in which said means is a sequence ofopenings arcuately arranged around the said center of said circle, saidgarment also carrying threaded therethrough a cord substantiallycentered in each pleat in the arc.

3. The garment in accordance with claim 2 wherein the basic'sector isformed of a plurality of triangular shaped plastic sheets. V

4. A garment in accordance with claim 1 wherein the said gathering meansradially spaced from the center of said sector is a double row ofopenings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,556,390 Woodley Oct. 6, 1935 2,236,269 Horblit Mar. 25, 1941 2,444,761Walston July 6, 1948 2,532,532 Bald-rica Dec. 5, 1950 2,535,459 RoodnerDec. :26, 1950 2,546,563 Rodin et al Mar. 27, 1951 2,639,431 SpearM=ay'26, 1953 2,667,641 Moss Feb. 2, 1954 2,707,284 Artzt May 3, 19552,734,195 Moss Feb. 14, 1956 2,756,431 De Luca et al July 31, 19562,865,023 Anderson Dec, 23, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 807,923 Germany Mar.15, 1954

